fix instances of consecutive articles (closes #23221)

Patch by Karan Goel.
diff --git a/Doc/c-api/exceptions.rst b/Doc/c-api/exceptions.rst
index 91964d0..6f8f243 100644
--- a/Doc/c-api/exceptions.rst
+++ b/Doc/c-api/exceptions.rst
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
       Do not compare the return value to a specific exception; use
       :c:func:`PyErr_ExceptionMatches` instead, shown below.  (The comparison could
       easily fail since the exception may be an instance instead of a class, in the
-      case of a class exception, or it may the a subclass of the expected exception.)
+      case of a class exception, or it may be a subclass of the expected exception.)
 
 
 .. c:function:: int PyErr_ExceptionMatches(PyObject *exc)
diff --git a/Doc/c-api/init.rst b/Doc/c-api/init.rst
index 46fc93f..0c1c714 100644
--- a/Doc/c-api/init.rst
+++ b/Doc/c-api/init.rst
@@ -1136,7 +1136,7 @@
 
 .. c:function:: PyThreadState * PyInterpreterState_ThreadHead(PyInterpreterState *interp)
 
-   Return the a pointer to the first :c:type:`PyThreadState` object in the list of
+   Return the pointer to the first :c:type:`PyThreadState` object in the list of
    threads associated with the interpreter *interp*.
 
    .. versionadded:: 2.2
diff --git a/Doc/c-api/structures.rst b/Doc/c-api/structures.rst
index e31687f..c193510 100644
--- a/Doc/c-api/structures.rst
+++ b/Doc/c-api/structures.rst
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@
 types, but they always return :c:type:`PyObject\*`.  If the function is not of
 the :c:type:`PyCFunction`, the compiler will require a cast in the method table.
 Even though :c:type:`PyCFunction` defines the first parameter as
-:c:type:`PyObject\*`, it is common that the method implementation uses a the
+:c:type:`PyObject\*`, it is common that the method implementation uses the
 specific C type of the *self* object.
 
 The :attr:`ml_flags` field is a bitfield which can include the following flags.
diff --git a/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst b/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst
index 2a75a46..8366d8a 100644
--- a/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst
+++ b/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst
@@ -970,7 +970,7 @@
 .. function:: create_tree(base_dir, files[, mode=0777, verbose=0, dry_run=0])
 
    Create all the empty directories under *base_dir* needed to put *files* there.
-   *base_dir* is just the a name of a directory which doesn't necessarily exist
+   *base_dir* is just the name of a directory which doesn't necessarily exist
    yet; *files* is a list of filenames to be interpreted relative to *base_dir*.
    *base_dir* + the directory portion of every file in *files* will be created if
    it doesn't already exist.  *mode*, *verbose* and *dry_run* flags  are as for
diff --git a/Lib/_LWPCookieJar.py b/Lib/_LWPCookieJar.py
index 90cc633..a446aeb 100644
--- a/Lib/_LWPCookieJar.py
+++ b/Lib/_LWPCookieJar.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
                        iso2time, time2isoz)
 
 def lwp_cookie_str(cookie):
-    """Return string representation of Cookie in an the LWP cookie file format.
+    """Return string representation of Cookie in the LWP cookie file format.
 
     Actually, the format is extended a bit -- see module docstring.
 
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/dir_util.py b/Lib/distutils/dir_util.py
index e2dc6f4..f90318e 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/dir_util.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/dir_util.py
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@
     """Create all the empty directories under 'base_dir' needed to put 'files'
     there.
 
-    'base_dir' is just the a name of a directory which doesn't necessarily
+    'base_dir' is just the name of a directory which doesn't necessarily
     exist yet; 'files' is a list of filenames to be interpreted relative to
     'base_dir'.  'base_dir' + the directory portion of every file in 'files'
     will be created if it doesn't already exist.  'mode', 'verbose' and
diff --git a/Lib/lib2to3/fixes/fix_exitfunc.py b/Lib/lib2to3/fixes/fix_exitfunc.py
index 89fb3db..3f3fbbf 100644
--- a/Lib/lib2to3/fixes/fix_exitfunc.py
+++ b/Lib/lib2to3/fixes/fix_exitfunc.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
         self.sys_import = None
 
     def transform(self, node, results):
-        # First, find a the sys import. We'll just hope it's global scope.
+        # First, find the sys import. We'll just hope it's global scope.
         if "sys_import" in results:
             if self.sys_import is None:
                 self.sys_import = results["sys_import"]
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_argparse.py b/Lib/test/test_argparse.py
index b74b622..915e989 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_argparse.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_argparse.py
@@ -646,7 +646,7 @@
 
 
 class TestOptionalsRequired(ParserTestCase):
-    """Tests the an optional action that is required"""
+    """Tests an optional action that is required"""
 
     argument_signatures = [
         Sig('-x', type=int, required=True),
diff --git a/Misc/ACKS b/Misc/ACKS
index 5372ee7..20ff71c 100644
--- a/Misc/ACKS
+++ b/Misc/ACKS
@@ -475,6 +475,7 @@
 Matt Giuca
 Wim Glenn
 Michael Goderbauer
+Karan Goel
 Jeroen Van Goey
 Christoph Gohlke
 Tim Golden
diff --git a/Modules/_ctypes/_ctypes.c b/Modules/_ctypes/_ctypes.c
index 1700afd..39e1ce4 100644
--- a/Modules/_ctypes/_ctypes.c
+++ b/Modules/_ctypes/_ctypes.c
@@ -5060,7 +5060,7 @@
     *(void **)self->b_ptr = dst->b_ptr;
 
     /*
-       A Pointer instance must keep a the value it points to alive.  So, a
+       A Pointer instance must keep the value it points to alive.  So, a
        pointer instance has b_length set to 2 instead of 1, and we set
        'value' itself as the second item of the b_objects list, additionally.
     */